


Distortions

by SincerelyChaos



Category: Sherlock (TV)
Genre: Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, Ficlets, M/M, Sherlock-centric, Slice of Life
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-21
Updated: 2017-05-21
Packaged: 2018-11-03 06:14:17
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 424
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10961379
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SincerelyChaos/pseuds/SincerelyChaos
Summary: "Distortion is the alteration of the original shape (or other characteristic) of something."Things perceived through the sometimes slightly distorted lens of an atypical nervous system.





	Distortions

**Author's Note:**

> Illustrations of what Sherlock's mind and life might look like from an ADHD perspective. 
> 
> Since each ficlet is very short, these will be posted in chapters containing several ficlets.
> 
> Rated for later exploration of ADHD and sex.

 

 

During his first lessons in physics, Sherlock registred an odd kind of kinship with the metal pieces that were used to test how magnetism works. The metal would inevitably get stuck on the strongest magnet, and would never stay in between the different magnets. Once it stuck to a magnet, it was impossible to redirect it unless an even stronger magnet was used. 

It was just like his own mind. 

 

*

 

John names things that Sherlock has never thought of as consistent enough to deserve a name.

“Post-case crash”

It certainly has a better ring to it than ‘mental cacophony’.

 

*

Captivated.

Sherlock wants nothing more than to feel captivated. Engulfed, intrigued, obsessed.

With a clear focus all the grey fades to black and things regain their contours.

 

*

 

It’s a mirrored picture.

It looks like ‘restless energy’ - the fidgeting, the walking around and impatience that has him vibrating out of his own skin.

In reality, it’s just his brain using any means to stave off falling asleep as nothing but movement keeps it awake.

(It’s a false threat. He won’t fall asleep. Not even when he actually tries.)

 

*

 

‘Temperament’ sounds so much more intriguing than ‘uneven energy levels’.

And Sherlock so loves to be intriguing.

 

*

 

He's built his mind palace so that it consists solely of neatly organised shelves where all the facts, all his experiences and every detail are fitted into a perfect cataloging system.

Apparently, he also happened to construct his mind palace in an area where earthquakes frequently occur.

(It’s a nuisance every time; the need to sort everything after the shelves have been knocked over and spilled their contents on the floor, leaving him with no other choice than to wade through the fragments of everything he knows.)

 

*

 

“Eliminate the impossible,” Sherlock says to John. “Whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth."

For many people, there aren’t that many things to eliminate. But Sherlock has a mind that sees more possibilities than most people could ever imagine. He’s not just “thinking outside the box” - no; if there ever were such a thing as a box, it would have shattered to pieces within seconds, unable to contain the mercury flood of thoughts and connections that is his mind.  
  
What Sherlock sees, and that most people will miss, is not merely more details. It’s all the thousand _might-have-beens_ that exists in every moment, in every detail of a crime scene photo.   
  
It’s only when you are able to imagine even the improbable solutions to a problem that you can truly solve a puzzle.

 

 

 


End file.
